So, yeah, we heard, it’s bad. Here (http://tinyurl.com/286y8jw) is a New York Times bit on the government take over of the kombucha industry. Ridiculus hype and BS politics is what this is. Mouth wash, vanilla extract and many other things that have much higher alcohol contents aren’t regulated like beer or wine. Ultimately, It should be up to the brewers putting their bottles on the shelf to make sure that their kombucha tea isn’t getting people drunk (although I have seen no documented case of this happening).
Many fermented foods and beverages have trace amounts of naturally occurring alcohol. When drinking or eating anything fermented or otherwise you should trust your body and taste. If it tastes like/feels like/is alcoholic, don’t drink it. A good way to avoid this whole mess is to make your own at home and test it with a devise like a vinometer or a hydrometer when you’re ready to drink it. I will be testing our kombucha tea for alcohol content from now on and our starter kits are still available and they don’t have any alcohol in them.
This is all hype and I hope that this won’t talk people out of drinking safe non-boozy kombucha.
Our kombucha wine is another story…

I’ve been brewing at home, and now with all this “controversy” decided to test my alcohol content with a hydrometer… but it doesn’t seem to show any change with Specific Gravity…are you still finding a hydrometer the best way to test alcohol content in kombucha?

I’ve actually been using a vinometer because I have one for the kombucha wine. Kombucha doesn’t even register on it, the wine is about 4.5% before bottling a months and months of further fermentation.
The real deal is that if your kombucha is getting you drunk, you’re no longer making kombucha. Normal, fresh, raw, fermented kombucha doesn’t contain enough alcohol to even register on any easily accessible devise. The taste of your brew would be so unfathomably off to anyone who’d ever drank kombucha, you’d immediately know to throw the batch out.